Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, this paper employs difference-in-difference propensity score matching to examine whether the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contributes to childhood obesity. We find no statistically significant SNAP effect among the 12- to...

The purpose of this study was to examine the discrepancies between perceived and reported overweight status among U.S. adolescents, and to identify factors contributing to such discrepancies. Using the Youth Risk Behavior and Surveillance Survey data (YRBSS years 2001-2009), we compare perceived...

We find that despite a stronger intention to lose weight, overweight and obese individuals in the United States are less likely to meet the federal recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption, energy and nutrient intakes, and physical activity than are normal-weight individuals. By...

This paper develops a difference-in-semielasticities (DIS) interpretation for the coefficients of dichotomous variable interaction terms in nonlinear models with exponential conditional mean functions, including but not limited to Poisson, Negative Binomial, and log linear models. We show why...

High prevalence of obesity in female Food Stamp Program (FSP) participants has led to the question of whether or not the FSP, which provides in-kind transfers to low-income Americans, causes this serious health problem. This paper estimates the effects of food stamp benefits on obesity,...

By exploiting exogenous variations in air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, we estimate the effect of air pollution on mortality in China. We find that a 10 percent decrease in PM10 concentrations reduces the monthly standardized all-cause mortality rate by 8 percent. Men and women...

The globally surging demand for electricity increases coal consumption and sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution. However, the causal evidence of the effects of SO2 pollution on health is scarce, especially in developing countries. We leverage a large national environmental policy implemented to reduce...

We examine the environmental consequences of two regional economic development (RED) policies that aimed to develop the economy of the relatively underdeveloped upper Pearl River (UPR) regions in Guangdong Province, China. Applying the triple-difference analysis to annual county-industry-level...

We employ Chinese firm-level data to examine the interconnections among firm ownership, environmental regulation, and non-environmental economic policies. We find that there are substantial differences between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately-owned enterprises (POEs) in response to...

This paper examines the relationship between income, pollution, and mortality in China from 1991-2012. Using first-difference models, we document a robust positive association between city-level GDP and life expectancy. We also find a negative association between city level particulate air...